 Poster: A snowHead
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PeteMan, very bad luck on the complete lack of snow - I think your report is very positive under the circumstances; it would have driven me mad!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I'd nominate Morillon. Running through the criteria:
Good snow record with north-facing runs and the alleged Grand Massif 'Mont Blanc in the hinterland' effect
Just 65kn from Geneva Airport
Good 3* or 4* Hotel with Pool (wife doesn't ski) - you'd need to check the tourist website
Tartiflette and a pint in resort for a tenner or less - might be pushing it but some friends just came back and they said they were pleasantly surprised by prices and that they were a lot less than the big French ski resorts
Hotel budget in the region of £1000 for 7 nights half board (2 adults 1 child aged 15) - you'd need to check with the hotel
Ski to the door not necessary but can't getting to the slopes needs to be reltaively convenient - definitely ski-in, ski-out if you stay in Morillon 1100
Good Greens and Blue runs (not bothered about reds) - absolutely fits the bill including the fantastic Marvel run which is one of the longest green runs in the Alps, also a very pretty tree-lined run, and even black run skiers would enjoy its roller-coaster gliding nature
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I haven't added to this thread for a while so I thought I'd give an update. I missed the boat when the BA Reward Flights were published in Jan but some more were released in the last few days. As a result, we've booked flights to Innsbruck on the 27/12 and return on 3/1. Total cost (for the taxes and making up the balance) was a little over £300 for the 3 of us, which I'm pretty pleased with.
So, our hunt for accomodation now starts in earnest. Efforts so far have shown that Austrian hoteliers seem to be reluctant to give prices until this season is over. We may also struggle finding somewhere willing to take a booking on a Monday changeover seems to be the Sat 25/12 or Sun 26/12.
To help with my search I'd be interested to know if anyone knows of any 4* hotels with pools that have decent childrens dicsount for 15 yr old sharing with two adults. Also, are there any resorts perhaps where hotels allow guests to use their pool / spas (for a fee) or where there are good public pools / spas?
Thanks, Pete
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PeteMan, I can highly recommend the Hotel Geiger in Serfaus. http://www.hotel-geiger.at Serfaus is a hidden gem of a resort - really lovely. The hotel has a heated rooftop swimming pool which I unerstand is energy self-sufficient thanks to solar pv. I stayed there with eight other families a couple of years ago and we had a fantastic holiday. The hotel was good value but I think you will find they may be reluctant to make a booking this early as they will want to give regular guests a chance to book up - they have a loyal following. The only downside was that it you have to either walk or take the underground electric rail link to the lift station but you can't have everything!! We would certainly go back there.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Borovets does have long queues (or did a few years ago when I made the mistake of going there), but also think about the standard of medical care should you unfortunately need it. I'm sticking to Western Europe now!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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We may also struggle finding somewhere willing to take a booking on a Monday changeover seems to be the Sat 25/12 or Sun 26/12.
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Absolutely. The chances of finding somewhere willing to take such an early booking for a Monday changeover AND give you a discount, are vanishingly small, I'd have thought. The popular Austrian hotels are pretty busy at that time, I think. But much closer to the time you might get lucky.
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| pam w wrote: |
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We may also struggle finding somewhere willing to take a booking on a Monday changeover seems to be the Sat 25/12 or Sun 26/12.
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Absolutely. The chances of finding somewhere willing to take such an early booking for a Monday changeover AND give you a discount, are vanishingly small, I'd have thought. The popular Austrian hotels are pretty busy at that time, I think. But much closer to the time you might get lucky. |
Nah, 'Fortune Favours the Brave'!
Pete
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PeteMan, Niederau is lovely - just got back a couple of weeks ago, having had a ball - but there ain't much in the way of long cruising blues for beginners that I was hoping for - most of the "interesting" (ie scary for me!) slopes are reds, and quite steep at that. An interesting story flying around Niederau when I was there was that they had had quite a few black runs regraded as red, to attract more families - don't know how true it is
Carolyn is the true Niederau expert - she's written most of the Niederau snow report thread elsewhere on the forum
Regards, Geoff
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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As mentionned before by another poster, I would also look into the Maurienne Valley and/or the Arvan Valley (From LYS, direct coach services).
Something along the lines of : les Karellis (most pistes are facing full north), St Francois Longchamp (connect to Valmorel on the Tarentaise side), les Sybelles (la Toussuire, le Corbier, St Sorlin d'Arves... etc...), or even further up towards Col de l'iseran such as Val Cenis, Bessans/Termignon, Bonneval.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| PeteMan wrote: |
I haven't added to this thread for a while so I thought I'd give an update. I missed the boat when the BA Reward Flights were published in Jan but some more were released in the last few days. As a result, we've booked flights to Innsbruck on the 27/12 and return on 3/1. Total cost (for the taxes and making up the balance) was a little over £300 for the 3 of us, which I'm pretty pleased with.
So, our hunt for accomodation now starts in earnest. Efforts so far have shown that Austrian hoteliers seem to be reluctant to give prices until this season is over. We may also struggle finding somewhere willing to take a booking on a Monday changeover seems to be the Sat 25/12 or Sun 26/12.
To help with my search I'd be interested to know if anyone knows of any 4* hotels with pools that have decent childrens dicsount for 15 yr old sharing with two adults. Also, are there any resorts perhaps where hotels allow guests to use their pool / spas (for a fee) or where there are good public pools / spas?
Thanks, Pete |
We stayed opposite here last New Year http://www.sporthotel-ellmau.com/ looked a really good hotel. We've already booked to go away over Christmas for next winter - staying in Le Deux Alpes. What we found was some of the TOs are running Tuesday to Tuesday holidays over Christmas as Christmas Day itself falls on a Saturday. If so you might be in luck, you could see about staying in a hotel in or near Innsbruck for a night and then booking into your resort hotel on the Tuesday.
Worth a try anyway!
We found Ellmau to be a lovely village, fairly low key and very reasonably priced. The snow over New Year was fine up top, but a little patchy in the village itself, definitely worth considering there or somewhere else in the Skiwelt.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Have to agree with the above. I went to soll this year and found the skiwelt area great for Intermediate skiers I'm sure it would be good for the beginners also as many of the reds are really blues in all honesty. There are some great hotels offering half board in the area and the onslope, and town, bar and restauraunt prices are very reasonable.
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Good snow record with north-facing runs and the alleged Grand Massif 'Mont Blanc in the hinterland' effect
Just 65kn from Geneva Airport
Good 3* or 4* Hotel with Pool (wife doesn't ski) - you'd need to check the tourist website
Tartiflette and a pint in resort for a tenner or less - might be pushing it but some friends just came back and they said they were pleasantly surprised by prices and that they were a lot less than the big French ski resorts
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You know it makes sense.
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alexdavid, welcome to Snowheads.  Is that a Mystery Resort?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Final update. As mentioned in my previous post we have booked 3 seats with BA from Gatwick to Innsbruck on the 27/12. We have also booked a Deluxe Room at the 4* Hotel St Georg Seefeld (http://www.hotel-stgeorg.at/en/a-warm-welcome/). Costs for the three of us are.....
Flights: 3 seats (Gatwick to Innsbruck) on the 27/12 = £340 return
Hotel: 7 nights (Deluxe Room for 3 pax inc buffet breakfast) = £860 inc taxes
Private transfer: £100 return
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Total: £1300
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Roll on December!
Pete
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Poster: A snowHead
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(Brides-les-Bains) Don't fancy the hassle of the hotel shuttle to the gondola to get to the Tignes lifts.
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I don't blame you. I wouldn't be keen on a daily 1 hour transfer from Brides Les Bains to Tignes either! 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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PeteMan, Borovets is a TINY ski resort. It appears that the skiing open to you was eqivalent to an UK indoor slope, you were 20 minutes from the lifts on an unpaved track. Sorry, that may be a vacation to you, but it's not skiing. i think you'll find that many\most 3* hotels and pensions in Austria greatly EXCEED any standards set by any Borovets hotels. Comparing 4* bulgarian hotels to 4* austrian hotels, would be like comparing a Mercedes S class with a Hyunday Sonnata, just because they are the top of the line models for their respective makers. If you'd looked at 3* hotels located 10 minutes outside villages such as Schladming you'd have found plenty.
Anyway, if you enjoyed "skiing" Borovets, Niederau and Oberau will be fine (I've been there during the summer and the skiing is very limited)
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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sugardaddy, thanks for rather patronising post. Had the conditions in Borovets been normal then the skiing would have been adequate. As it was, we still had a good time. I suspect that the communist era hotels may be akin to the Hyundai but the recently hotel that we stayed in was very acceptable. Not sure what you mean about the dirt track to the gondola. Have you been to Borovets recently (or ever)?
I have actually looked at many Austrian hotels but finding ones that are willing to take bookings on the 27th December, with a pool and a decent discount for a 15 year old are very rare. If you re-read my previous post you'll note that we're off to Seefeld which is described in Where to Ski and Snowboard as a "Traditional Tirolean tyle, upmarket resort". You'll probably point out that the skiing is rather limited here too but believe it or not even numpties like me can read a piste map and count the number of blue runs. Seefeld also appears to be excellent choice for my non-skiing wife.
Cheers, Pete
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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PeteMan, you missed the point. The great thing about Austria, is that the level of hotels is great and you might struggle to find a bad hotel. Even the most basic family B&B will be sparkling clean and well run. My post was in response to your complaints that Austria is so much more expensive, when in fact, you get so much more for your money.
You'll see how much you'll enjoy it!
Seefeld is actually mainly a cross country resort,so when you'll see (and enjoy) the differences from Boro, keep in mind that are Austrian resorts that are miles better for alpine skiing (literally)
Have fun
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Cool. By the way, the hotel that we've picked has what they describe as a 'Farmer room with fireplace'. Any idea what a Farmer room is?
Pete
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Maybe its a room where you can keep your boots on!
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PeteMan, it is a literal (word for word) translation of Bauernstuberl - i.e. a comfortable lounge with a fireplace.
I like Seefeld and it is a good choice for you given the things you were looking for. I think that there is a hell of a lot of snobbery here and on other skiing related sites about high mileage and "big" resorts. One report here on an area I know extremely well, wrote off the biggest area in Austria as "been there, done that" in a kind of tick box manner. I've been returning to the same resort for 20 odd years now and always find something new to try.
On the other hand, I have to say that I am glad that the mass tourism of the earlier years has concentrated on France because it leaves the better places for more discerning punter! (probably get well and truly toasted for that statement but who cares!!!)
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PeteMan, Having just read this thread I was about to suggest Seefeld. Not been to that hotel but have been to Seefeld five times. Wonderful place and especially with a non skier its an ideal place to go.
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FAQ
